Mr. Dashwood, Of

The Cooks

Mr. Julian Dashwood, centre of the Cook Islands political storm in August, is a high spirited Englishman who will be 65 in October.

He has lived in the Cook Islands since 1929, having pre viously studied for the ministry, served as an officer in the Royal Navy and RAF, and worked as a rubber planter in Malaya, a school teacher in England and Turkey, and a farmer in South Africa.

He has written a novel and a hilarious autobiography under the pen name Julian Hillas; has been married three times; and has been branch manager of A. B. Donald Ltd. on Mauke for the past 17 years. In the ’thirties, he was a frequent contributor to PIM.

NZ journalist Noel Holmes described Mr. Dashwood earlier this year as “an all-round eccentric” whose greatest delight was to encourage people to believe he was a Communist— with the help of a picture of Lenin on his lounge wall.

With an impeccable accent, a nimble mind and an uncontroll able urge to shock the rest of the world, he was “the only truly articulate member of the shadow Cabinet Holmes added: “He has coached his fellow Ministers patiently in their roles, has written speeches on demand, and has even used a tape recorder to perfect deliveries.”

Mr. Dashwood, who has only one lung, says he cannot keep up his present pace of life for more than two or three years.

He adds: “My happiest years have been lived in the Cook Islands, and I wish to repay the Cook Islanders in whatever way I can for the happiness they have given me.”